In 2003 physicians and other volunteers from America traveled to Senegal to conduct a medical clinic. They were shocked by what they encountered. The conditions in Senegal were far worse than they had ever imagined.
Life in Senegal can be grueling. Poverty is widespread and health care, sanitation and education are often non-existent. Many families are so poor that they give their young sons to city clerics who force the boys to live in terrible conditions, suffering beatings and begging all day with only sugar cubes to provide them with energy. Girls face tragedy as well. Daughters of poor families are forced to marry as a second or third wife when they are only children. Our teams have often encountered very young mothers who have already lost three or four babies.
What truly broke the volunteers’ hearts was that this already difficult life was made so much harder because of treatable illnesses and injuries.Infections like conjunctivitis caused blindness because families couldn’t spare $10 for medication. Cuts and burns caused fatal infections. Infants starved because their mothers were too young, too old or too malnourished to produce milk and had no money to pay for formula.
It was simply not an option to leave these people and their needs behind so Friends in Africa was created. A director and administration was established in Senegal and Senegalese medical professionals formed a coalition that has faithfully held quarterly medical clinics since 2003. A board of directors was established in Greenwich, Connecticut to provide organizational and financial support.
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